Research shows that 34.2 million people suffer from diabetes in the United States.
That’s a scary statistic.
After all, diabetes is a serious condition with a host of negative effects. The excess sugar in your bloodstream increases your chance of suffering everything from kidney damage to heart disease.
And more than 1 in 10 people in the country struggle with it!
If you’re one of them, then finding ways to help your diabetes and manage the condition is crucial. Only by keeping diabetes in check can you avoid the potential physical ramifications.
Thankfully, there are all sorts of effective ways to do exactly that. With the right approach, you can keep everything under control and get back to living an ordinary life. Sound good?
Read on for a selection of top tips to help you manage life with diabetes better.
Watch What You Eat
It’s hard to overstate the importance of diet for people with diabetes.
Of course, we all need to eat a balanced diet and fuel our bodies with the right food! But that becomes downright essential when you’re diabetic. After all, the food you ingest has a direct impact on blood sugar levels. The result?
Eating too much of the wrong thing can have disastrous consequences.
A key rule is to avoid foods with masses of fat and sugar. However, your body turns carbohydrates into sugar as well, which makes moderating your carb intake important too. Look into carb-counting as a way to monitor how much you eat.
If you’re at all unsure about the right diet, then we recommend working with a professional dietician. They’ll be able to advise you on appropriate meal plans, portion-sizes, foods to eat in moderation, diabetes supplements, and so on.
Exercise Regularly
Exercise is another key ingredient to living a healthy life.
As with diet, though, it takes on particular significance in terms of managing diabetes.
Indeed, physical activity is a known antidote to excessive blood sugar levels. When your body exerts any form of effort, it burns glucose and improves the efficiency with which you use insulin.
Try to build 30 minutes of exercise into your daily schedule. It doesn’t matter what you do either! Be it gardening or jogging, anything that elevates your heart rate is sure to help.
Be careful of allowing your blood sugar to drop too low, though (especially when you take insulin or other diabetes medication). Work with your doctor to formulate an appropriate exercise regimen around your meals and medication.
Quit the Cigarettes
Everybody should by now, understand the damaging impact of smoking on human health. Nothing good comes from it- especially if you’re diabetic.
Indeed, smoking doesn’t mix well with diabetes.
It interacts with the disease in numerous ways. For one thing, people who smoke cigarettes have a higher chance of developing Type 2 diabetes in the first place.
More importantly for us, though, smoking lifts your blood sugar, impacting your ability to manage the disease. If you’ve been looking for an excuse to quit the habit, then this is surely it!
Cut Down Your Alcohol Intake
It’s well worth monitoring and reducing your alcohol intake as well.
Let’s face it, being inebriated isn’t always conducive to sensible decision making! You might feel less inclined to follow your usual diabetes checks and management criteria. Controlling your blood sugar levels is unlikely to be as easy.
Of course, alcohol has a direct impact on diabetes as well. Alcoholic beverages tend to have high levels of carbohydrates and sugar in them. Drinking too much too quickly may cause your blood sugar to spike.
But the opposite’s true too. Overdoing the alcohol can end up decreasing the sugar levels in your blood. Letting it drop too low can have life-threatening implications.
All told, limiting the amount of alcohol you drink will only have positive effects. If you do choose to drink, then follow professional guidelines as to how much you can safely consume.
Reduce Your Stress Levels
Nothing good ever comes from being excessively stressed.
It’s tiring, emotionally draining, distressing, and damaging to your immune system. Stress that sticks around too long can even cause long term health complications.
The worse news for people with diabetes, though, is that it can elevate your blood sugar levels.
Then, of course, there’s the risk of being distracted from ordinary routines.
After all, stress has a habit of commanding your attention. Fixated on other problems, it’s easy to forget about the key tools, steps, and strategies that keep your diabetes in check. You might forget your medication, forgo the exercise, or binge on sugary treats to alleviate the emotional burden.
Try hard to reduce and control the stress in your life! Everything from exercising to meditation can help. Teach yourself some breathing exercises, practice yoga, and build fun-filled activities into your routine.
See the Doctor on a Regular Basis
Diabetes is a lifelong condition that demands ongoing care and attention.
Unfortunately, it won’t get better by itself! In fact, allowing the management of diabetes to dwindle is a recipe for it to get worse.
Make sure you keep your doctor in the loop by booking appointments to see them numerous times a year. They’ll be able to help you through the process, monitoring the disease, and offering the support you need to control it.
Time to Help Your Diabetes
Diabetes is a debilitating disease that affects tens of millions of people around the country.
Left unchecked, it can have severe implications on peoples’ health. That’s why it’s crucial for anybody with diabetes to be proactive in their self-care.
Thankfully, there are numerous effective ways to control the disease and stop it from impacting life too severely. Better still, many of the best solutions are steps that will improve your overall health in the process!
Hopefully, this post has highlighted a selection of top strategies to help your diabetes. Want to read more articles like this one? Search “Diabetes” on the website now.